Employment Service of Slovenia (ESS) has a single work programme for career guidance, used in all regional offices. The career guidance policy is planned at the ESS by the career guidance department at the central office, together with the management staff. The work programme defines tasks that are uniform and represent the minimal standard of activities defined for the whole country.

In the field of career guidance different activities are performed: information giving, assessment, counselling, training, mediation in job or school openings, providing feedback and monitoring. Career guidance can also utilize different ways of working with clients, e.g. individual work, group work, or a combination of both.

Most of career guidance provided at the ESS is offered to the unemployed (65%) and the rest to the youth.

Professional counsellors at the ESS offices have university degrees in social studies. Mostly, they are psychologists, as they can perform the whole range of activities needed in career guidance (including diagnostics). All newly employed career counsellors go through training and learn about the overall and the specific field. They learn how to use work tools and attend the counselling process. They also have a mentor, who guides and helps them during induction programme.

In order to work efficiently, suitable and updated information and material is needed. Continuous education is necessary (congresses, seminars) as well as cooperation with other organizations and professionals of the field (teamwork, good practice examples, information exchange, etc.).

At the national level, there is a need for an institution that would have an overview over different career guidance providers and at the same time ensure quality in this field. Standards of knowledge and skills for career guidance practitioners need to be set, perhaps in the form of a certificate. Such institution could at the same time disseminate information about new developments in the field, publish information material, organize workshops and seminars to improve the work of practitioners.